Young Nepalese boy slain in human sacrifice ritual

Tiffany Ap and Sugam Pokharel, CNN

Updated 1801 GMT (0101 HKT) July 27, 2015

(CNN)A Nepalese man has confessed to the murder of a young boy after saying
a local holy man advised him that a human sacrifice would heal his ailing son,
local police said.
The body of 10-year-old Jivan Kohar was found on July 24 on the outskirts of
Kudiya village in southwest Nepal. The child had gone missing three days earlier. 5
Police superintendent Nal Prasad Upadhyaya, who headed the investigation,
told CNN on Monday that Kodai Harijan admitted committing the gruesome
crime with his relatives after consulting the priest. In some cultures, priests are
believed to have magical or spiritual powers to cure the sick.
According to testimony given to police, Harijan and his relatives found the child 10
playing with friends in the village and lured him away by giving him a pack of
biscuits and promising him 50 rupees (49 cents).
The boy was taken to a temple on the outskirts of the village, where they
performed a religious ritual. He was then taken to a field nearby, where three
people held him down as another slit his throat. When police found him, the 15
boy's head was almost severed from his body.
Eleven people in total, including the holy man, have been arrested for their
involvement, with the perpetrators facing a life sentence. At least five have
confessed to their part in the killing.
Untouchables
The village, in the Nawalparasi district bordering India, is home to some of the 20
country's poorest and uneducated people -- often known as "untouchables" in
the traditional caste system. Both the victim and the accused in this recent killing
are from this social class.
Superstitions such as the sacrificial slaughter of animals such as water buffaloes,
goats and chickens are common among the country's mainly Hindu population. 25
The ritual killing of animals during the Gadhimai festival -- celebrated every five
years -- takes place in the belief it will bring prosperity.
"(It's) very unfortunate what happened," said Hari Prasad Mainai, Nawalparasi's
chief district officer.
"From the government level, we are going to launch (an) awareness program 30
against these superstitions in the villages of Nawalparasi district."

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/27/asia/nepal-human-sacrifice/index.html

© David Ripley, Inthinking

www.englishb-inthinking.co.uk
Elements of culture
What we call ‘culture’ is made up of many different elements of human behaviour, belief and
society. In the list below, identify which details in the text relate to each element (either by quoting
words or phrases, or by line numbers).

Religion ........................................................................................

Economic status ........................................................................................

World views ........................................................................................

Traditional customs ........................................................................................

Social class ........................................................................................

Education ........................................................................................

Law ........................................................................................

The family ........................................................................................

The State ........................................................................................

To respect or not to respect?

To start with, what does ‘respect’ mean? ... accept? ... tolerate? ... allow? ... (or?) ...

...................................................................................................................................

When should we respect the cultural beliefs that other people honestly hold ... and when should we
not respect them? And why, on what basis? Make notes for both sides of the question, below.

‘should respect’

‘should not respect’

© David Ripley, Inthinking

www.englishb-inthinking.co.uk